ABU GHRAIB, LACK OF BODY ARMOR, GUARDING HALLIBURTON MAKE UP SOLDIER'S STORY FEATURED AT OPERATION TRUTH
"Nobody ever knew for sure who was actually in charge of the prison," says Richard Murphy
NEW YORK -- From Abu Ghraib, to the lack of proper body armor for troops, to guarding private contrators from Halliburton who were making multiple times more income than he was, Richard Murphy saw it all in Iraq. Today, as the third Story of the Week at www.optruth.org, Murphy opens up about his time serving in Iraq and how he feels now. That story is below.
Richard Murphy, 25, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves on March 4, 2002. On September 11, 2001, Murphy watched the Pentagon burn from his apartment in Washington, DC. Less than a week later Murphy headed to the Army recruiter to enlist. Murphy was awarded two Army Commendation Medals for his service in Iraq. A full biography of Richard Murphy is attached.
Operation Truth (www.optruth.org) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization educating the American public about the truth of the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan from the perspective of the soldiers who have experienced them first-hand, and thus holding our elected officials accountable for the decisions they make, or don't make.
The U.S. must face the monster it created
SPC Richard Murphy, 25, Army Reserves
I feel uneasy returning this month to American soil after my 15-month tour in Iraq. This dreadful feeling is inescapable. Every day I must look in the mirror and face the fact that I served in a war based on flawed premises. I was told that Iraq was an imminent threat, that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. There were no WMD. I was told that Saddam had collaborated with Al Qaeda. He had not. Later I was told that we invaded Iraq to bring its people freedom and democracy. In my time in Iraq I witnessed the security situation deteriorate daily, and elections have yet to be held. (Incidentally, before the war I believed in the humanitarian cause of liberating the Iraqi people from the evil of Saddam, and I still believe in that cause.) My personal experiences on the ground epitomize broader, and sometimes troubling, issues in the war.
When my company landed in theatre in May, I was one of the few soldiers equipped with body armor effective at stopping powerful AK-47 ammunition. My mother, an elementary school art teacher, shipped the bullet-proof ceramic plates to me from the States. Other soldiers weren't so lucky, having to raid buildings and patrol dangerous streets while wearing inferior Vietnam-era flak jackets. Later I learned that 40,000 troops had been sent into Iraq without effective body armor. We rode in 'soft shell' Humvees, equipped with flimsy fiber-glass doors. A Volvo has more protection. I saw the blood of American soldiers spilled because of the lack of 'up-armored' Humvees.
After training 2,000 police, and bringing law and order to the city of Al Hilla, my unit was tasked to run Abu Ghraib prison, a mission for which we had no prior training. We were combat support military police, ideal for conducting convoy security, not administering prisoner-of-war camps. My unit was desperately under-manned, so I was assigned to run an entire tier at the 'hard site'. Even as a junior-enlisted soldier, I was personally responsible for 320 prisoners and a staff of four or five ill-disciplined Iraqi police. At Abu Ghraib, we were not afforded basic necessities such as cleaning supplies, instead prisoners cleaned their cells with water alone. Worst of all, nobody ever knew for sure who was actually in charge of the prison: military police, military intelligence or civilian contractors. All the while, insurgents' mortars rained down on a near-daily basis, killing and wounding scores of soldiers and prisoners alike.
My one-year 'boots on the ground' came to an end in May. In Kuwait and just days from flying home, Secretary Rumsfeld reneged on his one-year promise and extended my unit's tour by three months. We headed back to Iraq. Our new mission was to guard Halliburton truck drivers, civilian contractors who made three and four times my $20,000 salary. I wondered what on earth civilian truck drivers were doing in a combat zone. Riding with Halliburton on long convoys, we faced roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire to protect these high-paid contractors. Finally, we were
sent home in August.
I enlisted in the Army Reserve following September 11, 2001, one of the hardest and best decisions I have made in my life. I love the United States, the Army and my unit. Out of this deep love, I ask that we as Americans take a long look in the mirror. We must ask ourselves who we are and what we stand for. We as a nation must face the monster we have created in Iraq, sooner rather than later. We must find a way out of the mess in Iraq with minimal loss of American and Iraqi life. We owe it to the soldiers on the ground and the embattled Iraqi people.
Biography of Richard Murphy
Richard Murphy, 25, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves on March 4, 2002. On September 11, 2001, Murphy watched the Pentagon burn from his apartment in Washington, DC. Less than a week later Murphy headed to the Army recruiter to enlist.
Taking a leave of absence from his studies at George Washington Law School, Murphy completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leondard Wood, Mo. Murphy serves in the U.S. Army Reserves, as a Specialist with the 372th Military Police Company of Cumberland, Md. In February 2003, Murphy got the call to go to Iraq. The unit was attached first to 1st Marine Division in Babylon, Iraq, where it conducted combat patrols, law and order operations and started its own police academy, training more than 2,000 Iraqi police. Murphy served as machine gunner for Alpha Team, 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon.
The unit was next attached to the 800th Military Police Brigade, assigned to run prisoner of war detention facilities at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. Murphy was responsible for up to 320 prisoners in Tier 6 of Abu Ghraib's 'hard site.' Murphy created a 'safe cell' for elderly and infirm prisoners and helped put down an attempted prison break. On several occasions Murphy served as convoy commander on missions into Baghdad.
After spending one year 'boots on ground,' the unit's tour was extended three months. The company's new mission was to guard Kellog, Brown and Root civilian truck drivers in convoys in and around Baghdad. The unit conducted more than 100,000 miles of convoy security, facing roadside bombs, RPGs and small arms fire. The company returned home in August 2004 after 15 months in Iraq and 18 months deployed total. Murphy was awarded two Army Commendation Medals for his service in Iraq.
Murphy and his parents Joe and Suzanne Werfelman fought to raise awareness about the lack of body armor for troops in Iraq. Murphy and his parents have been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, L.A. Times, Newsweek, MSNBC and Stars and Stripes.
Murphy was released from active duty on September 9, 2004. He is a 2001 graduate of George Washington University. He is a student at George Washington Law School and lives in Arlington, Va.
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